James R. Clowser, 79, passed away Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at Hubbard Hospice House after a long, courageous battle with Parkinson's disease.
Born in Hillsboro on May 17, 1932, Jim attended Hillsboro High School, Greenbrier Military School and the University of Maryland. He returned to West Virginia to accept a position with the West Virginia Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. He was later appointed head of all vocational rehab centers in the state. He then went to the West Virginia Department of Mental Health where he supervised the agency's Community Program Development division.
In 1970, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health by Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr., where he administered the state's seven mental health hospitals, 13 community health centers and eight retardation centers.
In 1977, he founded Potomac House, Inc., which grew to five nursing homes and assisted care facilities in West Virginia and Virginia. It was ranked in 1981 in Inc. Magazine's